Seasons Greetings, Habs Addicts! I hope everyone had wonderful holidays as we gear up for the
New Year.
Currently the Habs have a
23-14-3 record, good for 4th in the Eastern conference. Not too
shabby at all. Scoring has been down this year, as the offense has been held to
3 goals or less in 28 of 40 games played this year and has only potted 5+ goals
in a game twice this season, naturally both wins. Carey Price and Peter Budaj have been stellar
in goal and the overall defensive effort has been solid, but if we had the average
goaltending we did last year, it’s easy to argue that our record could be 14-23-3.
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| Photo Credit: Allhabs.net |
Going into 2014, the future is still looking bright. Our
prospects have performed well thus far at the World Junior Hockey Championships
(WJHC). On Team Canada, Zach Fucale got his first start between the pipes on
Monday (December 30) against the Slovakian team and won, earning a New Years Eve start against Team USA. Charles Hudon has played himself onto the top
line with Jonathan Drouin and Anthony Mantha. Elsewhere, Sebastian Collberg has
played well for Team Sweden and Jacob de la Rose has meshed well with Filip
Forsberg and has 3 points through 2 games.
Finland’s Artturi Lehkonen has played a dominant physical game on the
top line, while Martin Reway has starred for the Slovakian squad, with 3 goals
and 6 points through the first 2 games of the tournament.
In Hamilton, the squad has been a mixed-bag of results this
year, playing average hockey with a 15-14-4 record. Martin St. Pierre leads the team with 25
points in 30 games, but the career AHLer is not considered a prospect. Louis Leblanc continues to sputter with 9
goals/18 points in 30 games. Blueliner
Magnus Nygren left the squad to go back to Sweden earlier this season. With no real opportunity to make the Habs
this season, he opted to return to the Swedish Elite league where he could make more money than
his $70,000 AHL salary. Dustin Tokarski
has received the bulk of the starts, with 22 appearances and has provided solid
goaltending with an 11-7-2 record, with a 2.30 goals-against average and .922
save percentage. While the organization
has depth, not too many of these players are truly NHL ready. Jarred Tinordi, Nathan Beaulieu and Greg
Pateryn continue to develop and can ably fill in for the Habs when Marc
Bergevin decides its time to move on from the Douglas Murray experiment or
retire Francis Bouillon to the press box.
There is still just over half a season left for the
Canadiens. Back in November, I provided Habs Addict with a reflection of the first 20 games. If you haven't read it, or you want to refresh your memory, I have linked the article here: At The Quarter Mile: Analysis of the First 20 Games. Since that time, the Habs have played another 20 games and this quarter of the season has seen them post a 13-6-1 record (10-8-2 in the first 20). While the record has improved, there has been only a few
changes to the overall positives and negatives that I listed back in November. Here's the latest update:
Positive: The Kids.
After starting off the season strong and creating the much hyped 'EGG Line'. As is the trend with Michel Therrien this year, the line has since been disbanded and both Lars Eller and Alex Galchenyuk have had a revolving group of linemates. While Galchenyuk
has continued to find success on the scoresheet, Eller has had games where he
has largely been invisible. Brendan
Gallagher has found comfortable spot with the rejuvenated Max Pacioretty (team leading 15
goals) and David Desharnais (14 points in last 19 games; 1 point in first 21 games) and continues to bring a strong, gritty presence in each game, even though his stick has gone cold in the scoring department.
Negative: Veteran
Performance.
Pacioretty and Desharnais
have sparked each other and have since started to roll. Tomas Plekanec
continues to be a steady contributor.
However, Rene Bourque, Brian Gionta, Rafael Diaz and Francis Bouillon continue to
disappoint while collecting rather handsome paycheques.
Positive: Subban
Continues to Shine.
His shooting
percentage is down by half this year (4.5% this year; 8.7% last season), as
such his goal output is lower this season. His point total of 27 in 40 games
leads the team and his average time on the ice of 25:09/game is second only to
Andrei Markov (25:32/game). He will be
in the running for the Norris Trophy at the end of the season at this
pace.
Negative: New
Additions.
Daniel Briere has 10 points
in 29 games. He's been a healthy scratch and is showing diminished skills and speed. Douglas Murray has no points and a team-worst -11 rating in 21
games. He is showing clearly diminished speed. George Parros has missed time
with two separate concussions and has no-points and a -5 rating in 9 games. Needless to say, no positive impact has been
made by any of them.
Positive: Elite
Goaltending.
Carey Price and Peter Budaj
have continued to excel under the tutelage of Stephane Waite. Price is playing his way into a starting role
on the Canadian Olympic team and both goaltenders have consistently played at
an elite level all season long. This has
not changed since the first 20 games. Without this tandem playing at the level they have been, there is no way this club is in the playoffs.
Negative: Decision
Making.
After all of last season and half of this season, there has
still been no impact trade made by Marc Bergevin. Coach Michel Therrien cannot find
consistent line pairings outside of Pacioretty-Desharnais-Gallagher and as
such, there has been a lack of secondary scoring on a consistent basis. How you can coach a team for a season and a half and still have no idea who can play well with each other is beyond me. The team plays well enough in its own end,
but without the goalies playing at a high level, Therrien could easily be
fighting for his job rather than a home ice playoff spot.
The New Year generally brings new hope and optimism for all.
Out with the old and in with the new.
2014 could be a great year for the Canadiens and the fans. With half a season remaining, there is still
plenty of hockey to be played and a full off-season for the roster to be
improved by the front office through the draft and free agency.
Until next time, Habs Addicts, have a happy New Years!!
Nick M. is a transplanted Montrealer,
currently living in evil LeafLand. He is a contributor here at HabsAddict.com and give him a follow, as he can often be found
rambling on Twitter.
4 comments:
Like I have said many times before. They need to blow up this team. Keep Price,PK, and the 2 Gallys; the rest deal away for draft picks and prospects that are over 6' 1". The team we have now will NEVER win a physical playoff series. Secondly, time to get rid of Timmons. Other than the Bally's none of his picks have done anything for our team. And don't tell me we have prospects coming up. We don't! They are all under 5'11". We don't need anymore smurfs.Trevor has turned this team into a team of smurf prospects. And when he drafts big he craps right out. Look at this year's pick. He is so bad he has been relegated to a 4th line player by Hunter. Just what we need more 4th liners who can't find the net. So my fellow hab followers we need MB to seriously blow up this team and begin to build a REAL contender,enough of these small, under achieving, 4th liners. Happy new year!
YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY Somebody (above) Finally has seen the light..It only took 2 decades fella.
All good comments, but first we need a Real GM in here with a vision It hurt the Habs when Detroit's ass't GM turned dowm the Montreal job a couple of years ago because his wife I believe was ill..He has since gone to Dallas, and just look at what he did personnell wise in one season..And dont let Habs fans try to fool you about Timmins 'so called " good average of players still in the NHL, most are third and fourth liners and players the team gave away..I personally think he stinks..He is so Pro American and small Europeans come draft time.
Habs will hold on for dear life to the 7th or 8th playoff position, then lOSE IN FIVE (AT MOST 6) games in the first round of the playoffs
BEEP "This is a Recording".
The Habs will hold on for dear life to the 7th or 8th playoff spot, THEN LOSE IN 5 GAMES(6 AT THE MOST) in the playoffs....
BEEP..."This is a Recording".
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